My Fiat Linea 1.4 Fire (Petrol) BNW (Beauty in Motion)

On the onset, I would like to sincerely thank all the TFI members for their wonderful & valued posts in various sections of this forum. Your prompt replies to many of the queries was really heart warming, as it really helped a newbie like me to take a more measured & logical decision in the buying process.:clap

Buying Process:- (Warning : Very long write up)

I had been driving a Wagon-R for the past 5 years on which I had just did 25K Kms. I was looking for an upgrade to a Sedan but Petrol version as my running was very low. With an initial budget of around 6.5 Lacs, i previewed & rejected the following :
<O</ODzire : Out of Contention due to Swift clone looks & very less leg room in rear seats.Etios : Very good leg room for rear seats, but very ordinary interiors & boxy outer looks.Ford Fiesta : This one impressed me highly with its 1.6L peppy engine & responsive gears, but the rear seat leg room was pathetic, the Ford salesman even told me that the Figo had more legroom than the Fiesta.
<O</OBy now I was damn sure that i wanted a car which would have decent legroom space in the rear for 3 adults to sit comfortably on a longish drive of about 200kms or so. Spending 6.5 lacs to buy a Sedan & getting the same dished out versions of hatchbacks like Wagon-R & Swift was simply out of contention.
<O</OSoon I realised that I would have to scale my budget upwards to 7 L for a comfortable Sedan with decent interiors . Till now the Fiat Linea was no where in my radar or wildest imagination.

The “All new Verna” was out of the list, primarily as it was 8.15Lac (Ex Mumbai) for the base variant & I personally thought it looked a lot flashy & less classy.
<O</OThe SX4 was also peppy, but the huge Tarzan like bulging looks was a big dampener for me & the interiors were clearly a lift off from Swift & Dzire.
<O</OBy now I was highly frustrated by the lack of choices within my price bracket :uh. Out of the blue, one fine day I decided to have a look at the TATA MANZA at OM SAI MOTORS which is very close to my house. I was not serious about the Manza & it was just a time pass excursion to the show room. Since it was a Sunday, I took along my wife this time. As soon as we entered the showroom we headed towards a Manza docked inside the showroom. The eager sales person explained us all the features about the Manza & so on. While I was sitting in the driver’s seat & toying with the steering wheel, I gazed out of the front windshield & saw the “STUNNING FIAT LINEA” docked at the other end of the showroom. I looked at my wife who was sitting besides me & surprisingly she too was staring at the LINEA in AWE :wow. My initial reaction was “oh…. that must be a very expensive C segment car”. I casually asked the sales person “woh gaadi kitne ka hai bhai ?” . He guided me to the Fiat sales person for further briefing.

As my mind was very price sensitive at that point:confused1, I discussed with him the various variants & the price tags & hell yes….!!!!! the Linea Active & Dynamic was well within my range :dance:up. I immediately jumped inside the Linea, it was a T-Jet though, and it was a Blue Trote Azure which looked a beauty in all sense. The interiors simply looked top notch, the rear seat leg room was acceptable, and boot was enormous. As it was a fully loaded T-jet, I realised that the specifications would wary drastically with the base variants & a quick check confirmed the same. TD was not available & they promised to call me next day with a petrol car.
<O</OWith my mind’s gravitational force fully pivoting around the Linea, I collected the broacher & headed home. Once home, I immediately started my research on the Linea. Google immediately flashed 2 topmost forums on the opening page, i.e TEAM BHP & TFI..!! The research at both this forums reaffirmed my belief in buying the LINEA. I narrowed down my choices between the Dynamic (7.25 L Ex-Thane) & Emotion (7.85 L Ex Thane) on road. My mind was all set for the Emotion with all the loaded features.
<O</OI visited Wasan Motors Borivali next day & took the TD of LINEA PETROL. The TD just cemented my mind regarding the Purchase of the Italian Beauty. The rates at Wasan Motors were in sync with Om Sai prices. On the price front, Wasan people refused to budge any further down. I went to Om Sai Motors while returning home for a final check on best price since I had not negotiated with them. Once there I was immediately routed to the senior sales guy & their final quote was 7.75L for Emotion for 2011 model with free standard accessories. Now, shelling out 75k more above my already stretched budget was a tough choice.

Seeing my sensitivity towards price, the Sales guy coined me an offer for a OCT-2010Linea BNW (this was the colour which we too had finalized) for a flat 7.50L on road + Original Linea PU Seat Covers worth 7k & Reverse sensors worth 3.5 k & other standard accessories. It was a clean saving of Rs. 35k for me altogether from the 2011 model. He assured me that the 2010 is in the Fiat Plant & as good as a 2011 & without any change in specifications. I was happy with the offer & immediately booked the car with the assurance that it won’t be a model older than Oct-2010. I was promised the delivery within 1 week. Meanwhile I sold my Wagno-R, applied for Loan at BOB, the manager is a good friend, got the Loan chq. 2<SUP>nd</SUP> day & paid the remaining Margin Amount from my side to Om Sai Motors & 100 % payment was completed in 4 days.

Decoding the VIN. :boxer

<O</OAfter booking the vehicle, I started to scan the TFI forum a lot, going through the various sections. I read the thread on how to decode the VIN. I calculated that my Linea’s VIN should end with KNZ (OCT-2010). After 2-3 days down the line I realized that I should ask the Om Sai guys for the VIN No . & was informed it was xxxxxxGNZ (July-2010). I was baffled at this news :shocked& was furious with the sales guy:hit. He explained that the chassis roll out date was OCT.2010 & VIN did not matter & said the same was on FIAT invoice also which he can show. I told him that I will send him this query by mail & he should reply that VIN did not matter. He was completely lost at an answer & asked me to come to the showroom. I was mad, as I had already made 100% payment & was being taken for a ride. Once in the showroom, i gave him my peice of mind unch & told him to refund the money immediately as it violated the fundamental trust in the deal. He asked me to cool down & went into a huddle with his other colleagues. He told me since no 2010 model vehicle with OCT.2010 VIN was not in the plant, he came with an offer for Mar.2011 with 7.70L incl of all the same freebies as before. As I was getting a new March.2011 Linea, we finally settled for a mutual price of 7.60L. I told him I wanted the VIN before the car was loaded from the plant. Next day morning he called me gave & me the VIN, which was xxxxxxCMZ (Mar.2011) :clapping. I was happy, finally things seem rolling now, but the delivery was delayed by another week due to the VIN issue. Thanks to TFI, or else I would have been driving a 2010 model for now.:clap

Delivery : I finalized the delivery date as 12/06/2011, Sunday. Before that I did the PDI as per the list on 11/06/2011, i.e. Saturday. Since many of you had suggested tyre switch over from GY-GT3, I had did ample research & zeroed down on the Bridgestone Turanza, stock size. After the PDI, I requested them to let their driver drive the Car to Bombay Tyres whichh was 5 mins drive frm the show room for Tyre swapping so that i won't have to waste time on the delivery day. Tyre swapping was done within 45 mins with proper wheel balancing.

<O</OFinally Sunday Morning came ; the delivery procedure went on smoothly & collected all the documents as per PDI. Me, along with my Son drove the car to my bldg, where my daughter performed a small Puja as per my mothers wish & then along with my wife, daughter & son proceeded to the temple for a brief Puja. It was a raining heavily since morning that Sunday, so we debated on the long drive, me & my wife wanted to go an a 200 kms ride on the Western Express Highway towards Dahnu & kids wanted to head towards S.Mumbai via the Sea Link towards Nariman Point, finally the kids prevailed. It was already 2.00 P.M by the time we finished lunch & made much sense for a much shorter trip on day with heavy downpour.

Driving : 1<SUP>st</SUP> impressions on completing 500 Kms :-<O</O

Well what can I say ?? Switching from a Wagon-R to the Italian Beauty-Linea is like shifting from a 2 BHK Flat to a luxurious Penthouse..!!!!!!:cool<O</O

The Fiat Linea feels like it has a soul beneath the bonnet & not just a machine, you can sense it the moment you ignite the keys.:razz:<O</O

The Classical Italian looks are a head turner for sure; within my brief outings, I experienced this bliss many times. The Rear of the LINEA is so awesome that it would give a definite errection to many BMW’s & SKODA’s for sure..!!!!! :lol<O</O

After a week I took my mom, sis & wife to the Dahnu Mahalaxmi Temple, a 200 Km drive. I was blown away by the way the LINEA was cruising & occasionally beeping the speed buzzer @ 90 Kms which I had set, it got an instant approval from all the occupants in the car for this feature.:-D<O</O

The Music system, well I burned many CD’s for this & found it to be very very decent, I don’t play loud, but even @ 17-18 volume the speakers was giving out good music without breaking. I see no immediate upgrade on this front.:drinks

Since it is cooled down here in Mumbai, the A/c is working very sweetly, need to check the same in harsh summer climates.<O</O

City travelling is easy, on the 2<SUP>nd</SUP> & 3<SUP>rd</SUP> Gear, one can easily overtake a rickshaw or a lagging car from behind. I frankly don’t feel any turbo lag as such; maybe that lag must have decreased after the new Linea’s got trimmer by 50-60 kgs (I read it somewhere)<O</O

FE : My 1<SUP>st</SUP> full tank gave an FE of 8.5 Kms 100% A/c., my 2<SUP>nd</SUP> fill up, which is jst 50 kms shows an improvement, its now 10.5 Kms, this is because of the advice from TFIans to observer the MID for instant consumption while driving, still scope for improvement over there.<O</O

The Hydraulic Steering is a revelation as it is very responsive & synchronises beautifully with the cars propelling system.:up<O</O

Overall, I am really proud to own a FIAT LINEA & looking forward to adding more smiling & memorable miles with this beauty.

<O</OHere are some Pictures, more to follow with change of seasons..!!

Congrats on the white beauty Rajesh. Very well written ownership report. You have put it very aptly about transition "is like shifting from a 2 BHK Flat to a luxurious Penthouse". I too own a Vocal White 1.4 and for the last 15 months, the car has been a pure bliss for me. How is the performance of Turanza? How is the road noise vs. comfort level? Congrats once again and happy mile crunching.

How is the performance of Turanza? How is the road noise vs. comfort level? Congrats once again and happy mile crunching.

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Hi kaps, thanks for the lovely wishes, i selected the Turanza basically for the thicker side walls as i will be doing some rough patches on a few weekends. They look quite strong & seem to be reasonably quite in terms of noise, running super smooth on the highways & city driving is pleasant too.

thanks Ravi, looking forward to long drives with this beauty, also i am following your thread closely, it is really very informative, got the embossed No plates for my Linea after i saw yours & Gujinders pics.